Learn about the types of people who become surgical assistants. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
70% of surgical assistants work in full-time roles while 30% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a surgical assistant. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More women than men are interested in becoming surgical assistants at a ratio of 1.27 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
74% of surgical assistants are female and 26% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a surgical assistant and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a surgical assistant and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming a surgical assistant than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of surgical assistants are White, making up 62% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and Black or African American, making up 12% and 10% respectively.